Sun Tzu saw that success is based on comparisons. For Sun Tzu, competition means a comparison of opposing positions. Battles are won by positioning before they are fought. Good positions discourage others from attacking you and invite them to support you. Sun Tzu's system teaches us how to systematically build up our positions to win success in the easiest way possible.
Sun Tzu's book is one of the most valuable works in human history. It is also one of the most difficult to understand. Much of Sun Tzu's writing is based on concepts in traditional Chinese science and philosophy with which modern readers are unfamiliar. Simply reading an English translation of Sun Tzu gives you very little idea of his methods. There are a number of serious barriers that stand in the way of our understanding the text. Much of what it teaches is diametrically opposed to what we think we "know" about competition.
To get you started, we give you an idea what the book covers in this brief summary of its chapters. We then explain the work's underlying cultural context and roots in Chinese science, especially its methods of diagramming relationships.
Below is one of the 232 articles in our Sun Tzu's Rule Book. Each explains one aspect of Sun Tzu' science and a step-by-step process for using it. We offer a new article every day following our Rule Book's Outline.
"You need all five types of spies.
No one must discover your methods.
You will then be able to put together a true picture.
This is the commander’s most valuable resource." Sun Tzu's The Art of War 13:2:7-11
No matter how well connected with think we are, the networks of contacts that we naturally develop in our lives are inherently limited. Natural contact networks are myopic, consisting of people who largely shared the same points of view. This occurs because we tend to keep in contact with people who are like ourselves. Our contacts tend to be the same age, have the same interests and opinions, live in the same areas, and, more and more often, work in the same industry if not company as we do. We cannot develop a broader perspective from talking to people who share the greater part of our perspective.
Sun Tzu based his design for information gathering around the five elements of a strategic position. We use the five elements our template for gathering information (1.3 Elemental Analysis). We need information about changing conditions (climate), our competitive arena (ground), those whose decisions affect our position (leader), the processes of the groups with whom we interact (methods), and the motivations guiding the people and groups who affect our position. Different types of people are better positioned to have these types information
Note: In Sun Tzu's The Art of War, his term for information sources is traditionally translated into English as "spies," but the Chinese character was originally closer in meaning to the...
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